Wrench.



[\ll. VAN B. SUTTON.

WRENCH.

APPLICATION HLED sEPT.22. l9l5.

1,281,228, Patented Oct. 8, 1918.,

FIC

WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 8,: 1918.

Application filed September 22, 1915. Serial No. 52,060.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARTIN VAN BURE-N SUr'roN,a citizen of the United States, residing at Deanwood, in the county of Oritt-enden and State of Kentucky, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Wrenches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art-to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates-to new and useful improvements in wrenches, and the principal object is'to provide a ratchet wrench, wherein the necessity of providing teeth on the'j aw member is eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide a wrench which is so constructed that the strain on the jaw member and pawl is in a substantially direct line, thereby removing much of the danger of breakage.

A further object of the invention is to provide a wrench having a spring pressed pawl provided with a plurality of relatively hard teeth for engagement with the jaw member, which is relatively soft, so that the teeth will bite into the jaw member and hold the same against accidental movement in one direction.

WVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel combination and arrangement of parts which will be duly set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings. in which Figure 1 is a side view in elevation of a wrench constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, illus trating the upper portion of the wrench, and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevation of the wrench.

Referring now to the drawings by characters of reference, the numeral 1 designates the handle of the wrench provided at its,

upper end with a recess 2 forming the parallel arms 3 between which the aw member is pivoted. A rear wall 4 is formed between the arms and extends to a point substantially half way between their longitudinal extremities and the upper edge of this rear wall is inclined, as at 5. The inner face of the rear wall 4 is formed with a recess 6 for the recep tion of the spring, which will be more fully hereinafter described.

Pivoted between the arms 3 and near their upper ends, is the jaw member, designated generally-by the numeral 7 comprisingthe sleeve -8, which 1S IOtEItZIlOlY IDOHIItQd on the 'the pawl, which will be more fully hereinafter described, may bite thereinto, so as=to hold the jaw against-accidental movement.

Thepawlabove referred to is pivoted on the pivot pin 14 and is designated generally by the numeral 15, said'pawlcomprising the body 16 formed with the thumb-piece 17 at its lower end, and its upper end or face of the pawl is formed with a plurality of teeth 18 and this face is relatively hard so as to engage the soft face 13 of the sleeve 8 and bite thereinto, thereby holding the jaw against accidental movement. Due to the position of the pivot pin 14 with relation to the pivot pin 9, it will be seen that the relative inclination of the face 18 will cooperate with the location of these pivot pins, so that the power transmitted from the handle to the pin 14 and pawl 16, will be transmitted in substantially a direct line from the center of said pin to the center of the pin 9, thereby removing the possibility of breakage. The pawl 16 is formed in its rear face with anotch or recess, designated by the numeral 19, and this notch or recess cooperates with the recess 6 in forming a seat for one end of the spring 20. This spring 20 normally exerts pressure against the pawl to throw the teeth 18 into engagement with the edge 13 of the sleeve 8, and it will thus be seen that the pawl will at all times engage the sleeve so as to hold the spring in its adjusted position. The upper end or face of the pawl extends tangentially to said sleeve, so that upon rotation of the sleeve in one direction, the teeth on the pawl are forcibly brought in biting contact with the periphery of the sleeve, which will prevent and hold the sleeve against further rotation.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that in operation the jaw is moved on its pivot 9 and is free to move in one direction, but will be locked in any position against movement in the opposite direction except when the user presses on the thumbpiece 17 to release the pawl and thereby permits the jaw to swing.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention, it is to be understood that such changes may be made in the com-, bination and arrangement of parts as will metal, a jaw carried by the sleeve, a pawl provided with a toothed active face of relatively 'hard metal, said active face being straight and inclined in an inward and rearward direction, a pivot carried by the handle at one side and to the rear of the pivot of the sleeve and piercing the pawl at the inner side of the longitudinal center thereof, and a spring adapted to normally hold the pawl in active position, the location of the pivot pin with relation to the pivot of the sleeve and to the longitudinal center of the pawl and the inward and rearward inclination of the active face of the pawl causing the inner end of said active face to engage the outer surface of the sleeve at a point coincident with a line connecting the centers of the pivots and permit the pawl to be moved inwardly by the spring as any wear occurs in the outer surface of the sleeve so as to at all times maintain said active face incontact with said outer surface at a point 00- incident with a line connecting the centers of the two pivots. 1

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. MARTIN VAN BUREN SUTTON.

Witnesses:

J. N. DEAN, H. T. THOMPSON.

Copies of this pat ent may be obtained for .five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, ;D. C. 

